Advertisements

Oct 31, 2009

This puzzle is noticeable for its lack of 3-letter answers. Only 2. Nice stacked 9's in the upper left and lower right. My favorite today are the two scrabbly long Downs: TAKES A JOKE (11D. Tolerates teasing gracefully) and FOURSQUARE (27D. Unwavering). Awesome!

There is no A-LOP (25D. Crooked) in my dictionary, but I do remember someone found the definition somewhere last time when it appeared in our old puzzle.

An easier puzzle than I had expected. The abundance of plural S suffixes and fill-in-the-blank entries sure helped. Still had to cheat though.

Don Gagliardo has provided answers to all of our questions regarding his SHOE BOX puzzle and other crossword related queries. Hope you find them informative. Thank you so much, Don.

Questions from C.C.: How to pronounce Gagliardo? Is the second G hard?

When my wife decided to take on my last name, my father sent a one page dissertation on how to pronounce it. He was dismayed in his later years that I could not pronounce it, and I blame him partly because he Americanized it when we eight children were growing up. The easiest explanation is to think of the opera Pagliacci. Listen to someone who sings Italian opera. Yes, the second G is silent, but not really. It is part of the diphthong, GLIA, which means "lion". Our name has connections to Gallahad, according to my father.

What kind of music do you listen while constructing crossword? Or do you prefer total silence?

It is funny that I have never thought about playing music while I construct puzzles, even though I am such a music lover. I suppose that I prefer silence. Sometimes it helps to listen to the words in my head when I am filling a grid or composing clues. Music would distract that.

Is it wrong to say "I like some of the long Down fills (rather than fill) today"? I noticed constructors use singular "fill" when they refer several or the whole non-theme entries.

I have always heard or read "fill" in the singular, even though it may imply many. You can talk about several down answers, and I don't think constructors even refer to "down fill" (unless they're talking about pillows). When the term "fill" is used, I think it is really just talking about all of the non-theme entries that go into a puzzle. At least that is the way I have read it.

From MJ: In yesterday's Barry Silk puzzle, I noticed many clues referencing cities and states. (Seven total if you count 30D Riyadh resident.) Would this be considered a sub-theme? If not, what constitutes a sub-theme?

Hello MJ,

The only sort of sub-theme that usually happens in puzzles is two or three clues that have some common connection. For me, it happens only because I see an opportunity and act on it. I don't know what other constructors do, so you would have to ask them. I think it would be very difficult to come up with a significant number of secondary theme answers. Sometimes it is nearly impossible to just get the primary theme answers to work out. I did notice all those cities, especially when two of them crossed (ST. JOE and TULSA). I'll go out on a limb and say that it probably was not Barry's intention to create a sub-theme. We should also remember that if there is such a thing as a sub-theme, it would have to be as strictly consistent as a puzzle theme. So in this case, we have a state and a foreign resident thrown into the mix, so it doesn't work as a consistent theme. Did you happen to notice the word SHOE in the bottom center, presaging today's puzzle? He couldn't have planned that!

From Carl: Why do you only contribute to LA Times?

Hello Carl,

It is true that my puzzles have appeared only in the LA Times. When I first started puzzle construction, I noticed that I was really enjoying the editing of the LA Times puzzles. I thought I would send a puzzle to Rich. Even though I was a newbie, he gave me great feedback and encouragement despite rejecting my puzzle. I feel as if I have been a student since that time and still have much to learn. Rich is very patient and has a great deal of insight as to what will go over well with solvers. I am staying busy enough trying to keep up with him. I am delighted to report that I will have a puzzle published in The Crosswords Club some time soon, which is a new venture. It does help that Rich edits that publication as well.

From Lisa (Ingersoll, Ontario, whose paper only carries LAT Sunday): When will you construct a Sunday puzzle? I loved your Alfred Hitchcock.

Hello Lisa,

Thanks for the compliment on the Hitchcock puzzle. A lot of luck went into making that one work. I have just had one LA Times Sunday puzzle accepted for publication, and have another that is accepted as a work in progress. That means it is probably four to five months away from publication, I am guessing. If you read the response to Carl, I will have a Sunday-sized puzzle in the Crosswords Club in the near future. Sunday puzzles are really quite a different animal. I didn't have crossword constructing software until this past summer, and it has made quite a difference. On the small scale, I could easily do daily puzzles with paper and pencil. But doing a Sunday puzzle was mind-boggling. I don't know how constructors kept their sanity before computers came along. Now that I have the software, it gives me the kind of vision that I need to set up a grid. I would like to do more Sunday puzzles because I enjoy the challenge that they present. They really are more difficult to construct than a daily, at least so far in my experience.

From Anon @ 1:38pm: Is EEEE arrangement intentional?

Hello Anon @ 1:38 PM,

I did not notice that there is an E in each corner of the puzzle! What was intentional, and explains this coincidence, is that I made the pattern of SHOE vary in each corner. The letters appear counter-clockwise, and the pattern changes one letter at a time as one proceeds in a counter-clockwise direction around the puzzle. It could just as easily have been an S, H, or O in each corner.

Oct 29, 2009

Theme: Shoe Store - The end of each theme phrase is a type of shoes. And each four-square corner has a box of S H O E (arranged in counterclockwise pattern and the rotation is changed one space at a time). I've circled the four SHOE BOX in the answer grid.

Below are some notes kindly provided by today's constructor Don "Hard G" Gagliardo on the inspiration of the puzzle. Let's have a Q & A Session with Don today. If you have any question regarding today's puzzle, or crossword construction as a whole (I am sure my interviews with different constructors did not fully cover what you've been curious about crossword puzzles), or you'd like Don to know what kind of theme/fill excite or rankle you, please click the Comments at the end of this blog post. Write down your name and your questions/comments. I'll publish a post with Don's answers tomorrow.

I'll start with mine: 1) How to pronounce Gagliardo? Is the second G hard? 2) What kind of music do you listen while constructing crossword? Or do you prefer total silence? 3) Is it wrong to say "I like some of the long Down fills (rather than fill) today"? I noticed constructors use singular "fill" when they refer several or the whole non-theme entries.

Notes from Don:

“Shoe Box” was inspired by Barbara, my wife. She just loves shoes, so I wanted to do something with them. My first idea was to have the entry SHOETREE come down the middle of the puzzle with different kinds of shoes “hanging” off of it. That didn’t work. The next idea was to find phrases with different kinds of shoes that appear in different connotations. To tie it together, I thought that since shoes come in a shoe box, SHOEBOX could appear in the center across answer. Then to take it even one more step, I realized that a shoe box could be a group of letters in the shape of a box composed of the letters S H O E. Perhaps I could stick them in the corners away from everything else where I might get lucky and work them into the puzzle. This is always asking for trouble, trying to get more theme into the puzzle grid. I figured the payoff was high enough that it would compensate for a fill that could be much better. When my first version was not up to snuff, Rich suggested that I make the SHOE box in the corner readable clockwise or counterclockwise. Rich also helped me decide on a different theme answer that would work better in the grid. I went with the counterclockwise pattern for S H O E, and by pure luck I was able to get four different versions of the S H O E box being in different arrangements, and changing rotation one space at a time as one views in a counterclockwise direction.

Oct 28, 2009

Theme: "Knot Bad" - The first word of each theme entry is a type of knot.

17A: Life insurance clause: DOUBLE INDEMNITY

25A: Hoedown activity: SQUARE DANCE

43A: Apple variety: GRANNY SMITH

54A: Inadvertent remark: SLIP OF THE TONGUE

62A: 17-, 25-, 43- and 54-Across begin with a kind of one: KNOT

Happy Santa here, great week so far; Jerome, Fred, and now, Barry. As soon as I saw the clue for ON US (3D: "We're treating"), I knew right then we were in for a treat.

Knotty pangram, all 26 letters are used at least once, typical of Barry's creation. Quite a few refreshing clues too.

This puzzle is reminiscent of John Underwood's "KNOT" puzzle we had last February. Wayne R. Williams changed John's unifying KNOT clue into "Tie tie" and the theme was missed by many.

Across:

1A: Run smoothly: FLOW.

5A: Uzi filler: AMMO. Uzi is the Israeli assault rifle. (Update: Anonymous @ 11:23 AM correctly stated that the Uzi is sub machine gun. The assault rifle is the Galil. One of the main differences is in the AMMO they use, with the sub machine guns using pistol calibers, while the assault weapons use a larger round.)

9A: Bench warmers aren't on it: A TEAM.

14A: Excellent: A ONE. Like Barry's puzzle.

15A: Known as "the Impaler," prince who inspired "Dracula": VLAD. Not exactly what the little trick-or-treaters would look like.

16A: American competitor: DELTA. Airlines. Delta now owns Northwest, who rightfully revoked the licenses of the two pilots who overshot the Minneapolis Airport by 150 miles. Laptop distraction! Just what were they surfing?

20A: Printers' widths: EMS. Or ENS.

21A: A deadly sin: ENVY.

22A: Posh: RITZY. After the Ritz hotels, established by César Ritz (1850-1918), Swiss hotelier. You won't find rooms like this at Motel 6.

23A: Neurologist's test, briefly: EEG. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain.

24A: Publicizes: AIRS

30A: Poor, as an excuse: SAD. As in, "Those old puzzles were a SAD excuse for crosswords."

33A: Second most populous Oklahoma city: TULSA. Oklahoma City is number one.

35A: Marquis de __: SADE. Sadism is derived from his name.

36A: Youngest of the musical Jacksons: JANET. Her sister La Toya has said that the King of Pop’s ghost has been visiting the family dressed in the white pearl beads he wore in the coffin.

37A: Golfer's concern: LIE. The lies on the course aren't as big as the lies in the locker room.

Hello all, Boomer here. I wish I could buy now and pay later with tokens.

I never saw "Bye, Bye, Birdie", but I do remember the Bicentennial very well. The US issued special quarters that year and I got ten rolls at the bank and put them away as an investment. They are now worth 25 cents each, but you can't get as much for a quarter as you could in 1976. I remember spending the day at a Minnesota Twins double header, outdoors at Metropolitan Stadium. Outdoor MLB is returning to the land of 10,000 lakes next spring.

I am not the best puzzle solver. I got about 80% of this one before I needed help. But I didn't need help with bowling last night. 665 is a good score for an old guy, and today I looked at my driver's license and Damn! I'm a year older! I'm the same age as Hillary Clinton, not as famous but my cheeks aren't as chubby. Have fun with today's puzzle.

Across:

1. One-person boat: SKIFF. My first error. I wanted to put Kayak.

6. College athlete: JOCK . The Gophers could use a few more.

10. Mouse catcher: TRAP. Build a better one and the world will make a path to your door, but who wants the world at their door anyway?

14. China's Zhou __: EN LAI. C.C. knows him better than I; Alternate answer would be QIN. C.C.'s Mandarin name is Zhouqin, but it doesn't have enough letters.

15. Clickable symbol: ICON

16. Compete in a meet: RACE. We are all in this rat race together, some day we may meet.

17. Ghostly noises: MOANS. Halloween is coming. I prefer BOOS. For the Yankees of course.

53. Cockney's main Web page?. 'OME(Home). Never heard of this. (From C.C.: Cockney is in the East End of London where the letter H is dropped in local dialect.)

54. Bears or Cubs: TEAM. And not very good ones recently.

57. Suffix with Israel: ITE. Israelite.

64. Rick's love in "Casablanca": ILSA. Funny how some old movies are Classics.

65. Mayberry moppet: OPIE. Ronnie Howard, now aged director Ron Howard. Famous as Opie and Richie Cunningham of "Happy Days." But do you remember him waiting for the Wells Fargo Wagon in "The Music Man"?

Oct 25, 2009

Theme: Waiting for The Great Pumpkin (12-Across) - A Jack-O-Lantern shaped Halloween puzzle.

12A. This puzzle's honoree: THE GREAT PUMPKIN. Linus sits on the pumpkin patch every Halloween night waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear. It never does.

27A. Strip where 12-Across first didn't appear in 1959: PEANUTS. Wikipedia says "In the 1959 sequence of strips in which the Great Pumpkin is first mentioned". Unknown fact to me. Peanuts debuted in Oct 1950.

The symmetrical partner of TOY PIANO (70D. Instrument seen in 27-Across) is not a theme answer, so I'll just classify it a bonus fill.

The puzzle has a left to right (rather than our normal 180 degree rotational) symmetry due to its special carved pumpkin shape. Definitely my favorite LAT Sunday since the switch. I could not imagine days or even months of hard work John Lampkin put into constructing this brilliant grid.

Two small quibbles regarding 2 clue/answer duplications:

50A. Sign made with two digits: VEE. And SIGN (1D. Coach's gesturing).